Aircraft for BKC

I found a Russian manufacturer of plastic aircraft called Zvezda.  The kits also include armour and infantry and have a supporting game system called Art of Tactic.  I wanted to get an early war fighter and bomber to supplement the British army group that Andy recently gave me, as well as a pair for Andy for his German army group.

The fighters are 1/144 scale, like the tanks, but the bombers are 1/200 scale so the models are roughly the same size as the fighters (about a 3 inch wingspan).  Since they are representing a larger number of planes, I think this is fine for the wargaming table.

The kits are very well moulded in grey plastic and snap together, requiring no glue.  They come with a set of decals and a stand.

For my British, I have the superbly-named Fairey Battle as a Ground Attack Unit:

And a Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber:

Andy has a Messerschmitt Bf-109 (Me-109) as a Ground Attack Unit:

And a Junkers JU-88 as his bomber unit:

Japanese House and Shrine

Adrian got me a couple of great buildings for Christmas from Blotz, who have an extensive range of MDF buildings and accessories.  The first is a Japanese house with removable roof.  These kits go together really well and have a lot of detail.  I added some greaseproof paper to the sliding doors to make them look like proper Japanese shōji doors.

The second is a small Shinto shrine to which I added some thread to represent the Shimenawa, lengths of laid rice straw or hemp rope used for ritual purification in the Shinto religion.

New BKC Battlegroup

Andy very kindly painted me a British battlegroup for early World War 2 battles in Western Europe.

The group includes Monty's CO, four HQs and a Forward Artillery Observer:

Four A9 and three A13 tank units:

Five Matilda Mk I and two Matilda Mk II infantry tank units:

Four trucks, two universal carriers and three different recce vehicles:

A 25 pounder, two ATG 2 pounders and three engineers:

Eight Vickers Mk VI tank units:

Five green infantry troops, five regulars, plus three MG and two mortar support units:

Fantastic paint job (including transfers!) and great details on the bases (which might have even convinced me to base my North African tanks).  Thanks Andy!

Armoured Samurai

Another six Samurai completed this week - this time armoured and with flags - designs from the Osprey books.

The same six figures from different angles:

 

Peloponnes & Spice Road - 7 March 2018

Four of us this week so after a bit of a catch-up, we dug out Peloponnes.  Usual fun game with the usual devastating end-game of disasters and final feeds.  David and James ended up with the same large population but James' buildings edged it.  Final scores: James population/prestige 30/27, David 30/20, Andy 18/17, Stuart 12/28.

Then we introduced Stuart to Spice Road and he promptly (well, not promptly) thrashed us.  Final scores: Stuart 68, David 50, James 47, Andy 37.

Adobe Cantina

I built the second of Andy's Christmas presents this weekend - an adobe cantina from Sarissa Precision for Mexico and Wild West games.  This is another laser cut MDF flatpack.

This is another well-designed set that is straight-forward to construct.

The building has two floors and a roof (accessible by a supplied ladder that I forgot to include in the photos) as well as full interiors.

The Castles of Burgundy - 21 February 2018

Despite a number of very well-received and enjoyable games, we have inexplicably overlooked this board game for a couple of years.  We won't leave it so long again.  This is a really clever game, with different strategies to earn victory points and has a nice concept.

Final scores: David 204, James 196, Andy 152.